Saturday, 2 March 2013

Izakaya Arigato, Chatswood

Izakaya Arigato is starting to become of my defaults when in Chatswood for a reasonably-priced, last-minute dinner. Ever since the Concourse was erected, "Eat Street" has become a lot less busy, and for those who want to have a nice quiet dinner and not line up for tables, this street is (at present) the place to go.

They have seating both indoors and outdoors, but I usually sit inside to avoid secondary smoke. The decor is interesting - calligraphy on the walls and a mooncake-shaped ceiling fan fixture.

Looks Chinese to me.

Funky fans!

The Korean waitresses are bubbly and welcoming, albeit half-fluent in English. We decided to share an entree of takoyaki balls. These ones are pretty standard - soft and gooey with bits of octopus inside.

Takoyaki x 8 (<$8.00)

I have stressed before how fussy I am over sushi, turning up my nose at tough nori, dry rice and fishy... well... fish. The sushi's been pretty safe so far. If you order a sushi set, they throw in a small bowl of miso soup - and only the soup. It's kinda strange, actually, as it has a bit of a sour note and there's no seaweed or cubes of tofu. Not something I would go out of my way to pay for, but on a cold day, it's a nice hot drink to have.

Miso soup (included in order)

The first time I visited, I ordered the Eel Lover, which consists of two types of grilled eel sushi. All eight are bathed in sweet terikyaki sauce, and all eight are cooked well. The first type of eel is simply a portion of rice covered by a sliver of eel. The second type of eel sushi contains nori and rice, rolled up to contain egg (which was kind of mushy), avocado and crab meat. Despite not looking like that much, the portions are filling and I couldn't finish the whole thing.

Eel lover ($16.80)

On another visit, I ordered the Salmon Lover, which contains a lot more variety than the eel board. It consists of 4 types of salmon sushi - salmon sashimi, salmon sashimi on rice, half-grilled salmon sashimi on rice, and salmon sashimi with avocado in a roll. The salmon was fresh, the rice was moist, and that slice of lime helped to clear my tastebuds and create more room in my stomach.

Salmon lover ($13.80)

Both evenings I've been here, I have had a pleasant experience. It's a great place to catch up with old friends without feeling like you have to clear out for the next customer, and, for those who want to splurge, there's always the option to bond over the BBQ meat platters or hot pot meals.